The Crew
by Nutflex
Summary: A story about a different group of kids in London hiding from the Adults. This time, though, they are leaving London and heading out into the countryside. Read for new characters, new enemies, and new adventures. A little romance later on Read and Review please. Forgive me because I'm American and this is based off of the American version of the novels
1. Chapter 1

They had gotten in from the back at the Piggott Ed Center, way at the back. The squatters from Hyde Park, those awful thieves. It had been an oddly peaceful day, considering forty or so kids were holed up in the British National Gallery in London, England. They were hiding from the Adults, in some sick version of Hide and Seek, Found and Eaten. Ever since a year and a half ago, the adults have been sick. A disease broke out around the world, affecting everyone over sixteen. Millions died. Doctors said it would three times worse than the black plague. There was no cure. Eventually, the disease stopped killing, and something much worse happened. The adults started eating children.

Everyone scattered. The kids who were too young to get the disease found safe, easily defended hideouts or died. The kids living in the British national gallery were survivors. They were safe. And then the rare happiness the children had dissipated when a scream erupted from downstairs, which the kids rarely ventured in. Only the children in the Central Hall by the staircase had heard it, only they were able to react.

Garrett, the leader of the troop, told his second-in-command Edgey to grab four others, and he and third-ranked Atch took off down the stairs. Down and to the left, a group of dirty mongrels were cornering a child, a nine year old French girl named Fer.

As soon as the squatters saw Garrett, they turned from Fer and faced the boys, looking ready to kill. No words were exchanged between the two groups, just glaring. Just then, Edgey appeared with four others: Newt, Luet, Zai, and Tack jumped in, waving their spears and swords. The squatters were outnumbered, but the twats were stupid enough to attack anyway, yelling. They also knew they had an advantage, because they were better fighters. Anyone willing joined in drills in the morning, but there weren't that many anymore.

A boy and a girl rushed at Garret together, knocking him off his balance quickly. A third then had time to punch him in the jaw. An older boy with particular bloodlust lunged at Edgey with the sharp end of a spear, clearly with the intent to kill. Edgey, who was distracted trying to pull a robust girl off Newt, wasn't paying attention. Just as the spear swung two inches from him, all motion stopped. The sound of the safety setting on a gun turning off caught everyone's attention. The gun was pointed at the boy with the spears head, in the hand of the tall blonde Carlisle.

"I'll shoot him dead now if you all don't disappear in ten seconds." He said, dead serious."

"Carlisle." Garrett said, trying to sound tough but clearly afraid. Afraid of the squatters and Carlisle. The boy with the gun at his head trembled slightly, dropping his spear.

"They'll kill you if you do it." He said.

"I've got six bullets, and there are five of you. Give it up. You won't be having any of our food today." Weighing the chances, the five squatters threw down their weapons, and hightailed it. "Filth" muttered Carlisle.

"Jesus, Carlisle," breathed Garrett, "We don't kill other kids."

"They don't know that, though" Carlisle smiled, walking over to his friend and slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"Well thanks for the help. Newt especially needed it, seeing as how he was knocked over by a girl." Atch let out an arrogant laugh, and turned to head back up stairs.

"Excuse you, but in case you didn't see, she was a six foot tall amazon," The most uptight kid in possibly all of London countered, chasing after Atch. "Besides, it isn't that big of a deal. After all, Zai could probably knock you out in less than thirty seconds." Zai, the only girl in the group, smiled at that. Atch glared at her angrily, and continued to argue with Newt on their way back upstairs.

Poppy watched as the smoke floated up above the buildings from some distant street farther up North. Whoever had set that fire was going to attract a lot of attention, that's for sure. Either that or burn down the town, like some twat did last year. Poppy's thoughts drifted to the intruders. _Adults or Squatters or… something else._ When Edgey had come running from the central hall, yelling about an intruder, Her and another girl holed the children up in the Spain Room behind Central Hall. Four boys now stood on guard at the door, weapons raised. Poppy turned from the window to face the self-proclaimed baby sitter, Xavia.

"I did a head count. Everyone's here but Fer" She lowered her voice. _Crap._ Thought Poppy. The little French girl, Fer often caused trouble, because she barely spoke English. Poppy started getting antsy. She turned back to the window, looking down at the clear streets below. In other parts of London, she'd heard, Adults filled the streets, in daylight and at night. Poppy was grateful to be living in the Gallery, where they grew plants under the terrace and had a good supply of water. Of course, they still had to go out to scavenge often. Poppy sighed. She knew she should be standing at the door, weapon ready. She sometimes participated in morning drills, and was an okay fighter, but she didn't really like it. Poppy wished one of the older boys had stayed with her. When she'd seen Edgey running by she'd asked him to stay and help get the kids, but he shrugged her off like usual. For some reason, Edgey didn't really like her. For the most part though, everyone even got along.

As Poppy was thinking this, Atch and Newt strode in the Spain Room, arguing. Poppy let out a sigh. If Atch and Newt were in a good enough moods to argue, everything had gone well. Next to walk in was Garret with Carlisle, then Zai, Luet and Edgey, and Tack trailing behind.

Garrett saw Poppy and grabbed Edgey, Tack, and Newt and pulled them over to Poppy and Xavia

"So what happened?" asked Poppy.

"Squatters as usual. Carlisle scared them off." Garret said quickly.

"Carlisle?" Poppy hadn't seen him at all this morning, especially not when the squatters had gotten in and Edgey came to get people.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk about. All of you have a leveled head, and I want to share my thoughts with you."

"Is this about how he almost shot that squatter in the head?" asked Edgey.

"He what!" Xavia half-whispered half-shouted.

Poppy herself was shocked. One rule Garrett made when he became leader was that no one was to ever kill any kids. She shook off her shock and focused on Garret, who shrugged, "He's been kind of off lately."

"Well you know him better than any of us." Suggested Newt.

"He's always been kind of a creep, hasn't he?" Edgey said.

Garret frowned. "Just keep an eye out, eh" he started to walk away, before turning back to Edgey sharply. "And you know, he is my best friend."

Edgey faked heartbreak. "And here I though he was _my_ best friend" he said, dramatically wiping an invisible tear from his eye.


	2. Chapter 2

For seemingly obvious reasons, the children almost never went downstairs. They slept in the gallery rooms, grew food upstairs in the salsbury wing, the extension. So what was little Fer doing down their all alone when she spotted the squatters? That's what Voe was wondering as he boarded up the back entrance again. The gallery had pretty strong doors; it couldn't have been easy to break.

Voe was fourteen with curly black hair and grey eyes. Like most of the Gallery Crew, he'd changed his name when the disease happened and the Adults went berserk, turning into zombies. When his own mother had tried to eat his face off. Sometimes he could still hear her, in the back of his mind, humming that odd tune that she hummed so much it was always stuck in his head.

Next to Voe worked Um, who was much less willing to recall long ago memories. Um was tall and skinny with messy dark brown hair, and never spoke. Eight months before he'd broken into the gallery alone by _scaling _the side of the building. He smashed through the window into a room with about twelve other kids in it. When the kids, in awe, asked him his name, he just replied with the very eloquent "Um," before breaking down on the floor, sobbing. After that he didn't speak anymore.

As they were finishing up, Poppy came up behind Voe, quickly grabbing his shoulders and giving him a shake to scare him. "Wow, you jumped three feet up." She laughed as Voe turned around, blushing madly."

"You're exaggerating, Poppy," it was pretty obvious to everyone but the two that Voe had a big crush on Poppy. After everything it seems, humans are still humans, which means they have _urges_, even when being hunted by child-eating Adults. Um resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Poppy saw him and smiled, going over to lean on the wall next to him. The two had had a special connection, often finding corners of the gallery to sit and talk. Of course, Poppy did most of the talking. Lately though, Um had been distant. He acted as though he wasn't interested in being friends with Poppy, but in truth he just didn't want to get in between whatever was happening with Voe and her.

"What are you doing down here?" Voe asked.

"Garrett, uh, wants me and a few others to go look for water and maybe some canned food." It wasn't often Poppy left the gallery, so she was clearly nervous. Trafalgar square was a relatively safe area, but still.

"Oh." Said Voe, clearly feeling nervous with her. "Who else is going?"

"The triplets." The triplets weren't actual triplets, they weren't even related. They didn't even look alike. The triplets acted as one though, always together. They were sassy, flirtatious, and actually good fighters. "We are searching through this apartment that's looked abandoned for a while. When Garrett first became leader, he set up scout parties and posts and guards. With the help of Carlisle, that is. Carlisle is a huge strategist, always planning things and what not. He always wants to know what's going on in London. The only flaw is for about two minutes every five hours, at least one entrance is unguarded, which is how the squatters got in. After boarding up the door, in fact, Voe and Um were supposed to be guarding it. Garrett was a good leader, but the group never would have survived were it not for Carlisle's organization skills and OCD. He'd been the one to suggest using the fountain water as bath water, and growing food in the Salsbury wing on the ground floor and storing it above.

Everything was as organized as it was where Um had come from, only at the gallery it was less like a dictatorship. Garrett had been _voted _leader. Um liked this place much better, seeing as how people were actually happy sometimes. The younger kids were clueless about the outside world. The children had the run of the place, really, only the kids over twelve were given tough jobs. That's why on that particular day, Poppy and the triplets were given the job of leaving the safety of the gallery.

Voe was about to offer to go on the task with her, but just then sassy, flirtatious, honey-skinned Deena waltzed up to the group. "Come on, hun, we've got time to make. Quinn and Jen are waiting by the front entrance" Deena bit her lip, glancing suggestively at Voe. As much as Voe desired to go with Poppy, the triplets made him uncomfortable with all their flirting.

Deena clutched Poppy's' arm, half-dragging her away. "Bye Voe, bye Um," she called back. Voe stared longingly after her, like a lovesick puppy. Um went back to work. He could somewhat understand why Voe liked her. She was pretty, with her dark blonde hair and golden brown eyes; she was bright and nice without being too nice or too girly. She wasn't exactly shy, just reserved. Plus, Poppy was one of the only people who acknowledged Um's presence, talking to him about whatever bothered her that particular day, knowing he couldn't answer back. More like _wouldn't _answer back.

Wesley Charleston III sat idly on the bench in room 23 of the gallery, the Swinstead Van Walsem room. He looked at the paintings hanging all over the room, all oblivious to how times had changed. A year ago, Garrett wanted to use all the paintings as firewood and building wood. Famous, age paintings, and he wanted to turn them all to ashes! Wesley and a few other children protected the paintings; after all, they were why Wesley had come to the gallery in the first place. Wesley's family was rich; his mum was a lady of class, who always bought him to the gallery to look at paintings. He didn't mind paintings of naked ladies like the other kids, Wesley admired art. He wished the other children had never come to the gallery, disrupting its timeless peace. The imbeciles changed their names even; Wesley liked to think of them as lost boys. They were just lost boys looking up to peter pan, or in this case, Garrett. Instead of thinking of those _arschloch's_ (asshole in German, which he was fluent in), Wesley thought about the future, when all the Adults were killed off or died, when the children could rebuild the world. These paintings would be the only representation of the old world.

And the world _would_ be rebuilt. Every day, lone groups of kids called hunters would track and kill crews of Adults, so eventually it would all end. Wesley considered his growing hope a gift from god.

Just outside, Poppy was resisting the urge to hum. It was something she did when she was nervous. She also counted in her head, not like counting anything, but just listing numbers. Poppy was standing awkwardly with Quinn and Deena, while Jet flirted with a guard on the grand steps of the Gallery. A few of the kids were playing outside next to the fountain. Poppy wished she was small again, young and oblivious. Which was ridiculous, because she was still young, only fourteen, and should still be oblivious. She couldn't be any more though. _I have to be strong_, she thought, standing just a little bit straighter. She tried not to think of the Adults, with their boils and general grossness. Jen finally finished flirting with the guard, and stepped down the very large steps to meet Deena, Quinn, and Poppy.

"Alright. Let's get this shit done" Quinn clapped her hands together. The triplets sashayed to the gate while Poppy dragged her feet all the way there. Tack had taken a team to reinforce and upgrade the gate, since his dad had been a construction worker. Poppy looked back at the gallery and tried to tell herself it wasn't the last time she would see it.

Twenty minutes later, the girls were at their third room in a small apartment building, a fine way away from the gallery. Jen was on the ground floor, on lookout duty. They hadn't found much so far, food, supplies, or any Adults. Most of the building had been abandoned when the disease was still killing off Adults. Still, Jen had managed to find a pack of gum hidden next to the doorstep. Only two pieces missing! Her luck today was amazing. Jen took out her gun and did a James Bond move. She liked guns. Didn't get all bloody like spears and swords and things. Nice and clean. Guns were precious, rare, like ammunition. Only a few older kids at the gallery got them. Jen used to have a bat, but she threw up every time she bashed an Adult in the skull. Finally, she put in a request for a gun with the weapons expert. And so she got a gun. And boy, it felt good in her hands.

Quinn, inside with Poppy and Deena, smacked her lips. She was the quietest of the triplets, but that didn't make her any less sassy. She had a cool and sophisticated demeanor. Kind of bad-ass, actually. She really just preferred to keep her judgments to herself. This time though, she couldn't help it. "Look at that atrocious Justin Beiber poster. I mean, is this 2007? He was a total druggie." She ripped it off the wall, looking like she wanted to stab it."

Deena laughed. "That's just cause you were a directioner" she said, appearing out of the bathroom door, triumphantly holding bars of soap. Quinn walked over to her and took three. She didn't exactly enjoy Tack's homemade soap.

"God bless their souls." Quinn said, looking like she might weep a little bit over the deceased popular pop band, One Direction. Or possibly the finding of soap.

"I heard when they died, a ton of girls committed suicide."

"No way! I don't believe you." Quinn said. Just then, Poppy appeared at the doorway of the bedroom. She held up a lighter and smiled. Lighters were going to be precious, as the spring was still kind of chilly.

"Awesome!" Deena squealed, running up to Poppy and giving her a hug.

"Don't get to exited." Quinn flounced over. "It'll be for everyone. Don't you dare give it to him, I don't care if your shacking up with him or what."

"Huh?" Poppy blushed, confused.

"Not you. I was talking to Deena. About Carlisle." At that, Deena coughed and blushed, something that rarely happened.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Deena said angrily. "And I don't think…" she began before being cut off by a yell from Jen.

"Adults advancing down the street. We're spotted!" The girls froze up for a few seconds. Sweat appeared on Poppy's brow. Then the girls grabbed their weapons and ran out the apartment, down the staircase, and through the front door. Immediately the girls saw what Jen saw. Seven adults, walking at a fast pace towards the girls.

"Adults walking around during the day?" Poppy questioned. Adults **hated** the sunlight. They always went out at night instead. Poppy gripped her spear. She hated fighting. Fighting and killing. Jen quickly whispered a plan inside the girls ears. Disappear and then ambush when they get confused. The girls dashed around a street corner and hid behind a dumpster. They waited, crouched, for the Adults to chase them. Poppy listened intently. After a minute, she heard the shuffling of Adults, the disease making them slow. The first one, a rather large man with a sunken in face and a lazy eye stumbled into the alley. Poppy briefly wondered if the Adults could smell them. Jen popped the girls on the shoulder, making a canceling motion with her hand, sliding it across her throat. They were to wait and see if the Adults would pass them.

As fate would have it, though, the Adults abruptly stopped when right in front of the trash bin. One of them sniffed the air in a dog like fashion, then lolled her head to the side. Then the rest of them followed her action, and turned toward the trash bin. The girls were found. Deena cursed under breath and dived out from the trash can right into one of the adults, punching her in the stomach with her bat. Jen, jumping into action pulled the trigger from behind the bin. It hit the large man in the arm. She shot at him again, this time it hit him square in the chest. He dropped like a stone. Quinn dashed out, smacking on Adult in the stomach, and then stabbing another. Poppy, terrified, stumbled with her thin sword, trying to get a grip. She took a deep breath before; she too launched herself into the chaos._ I've got to help them._ She thought. Deena pushed an Adult near her, who Poppy stabbed in the back. Poppy quickly pulled her sword out, swallowing, and ran forward. She stabbed a middle-aged man in the gut. Black blood spilled out. Poppy felt her breakfast coming up, and hesitated. The worst thing to do on a battlefield. The Adult toppled over onto her. Poppy's eyes widened as he fell, crushing her with his weight. Her head hit the ground with a **_smack_**. She felt blood pouring onto her, and the diseased man wriggling on top of her. His teeth brushed her arm, hungering for child skin. She kicked and yelled, trying to fight him off. He was too large though. Poppy closed her eyes when the beast attempted to bite her again. Quinn, Jen, and Deena were preoccupied with a new wave Adults, drawn by the sounds of battle. Deena looked back over her shoulder while fighting off an old lady.

"Poppy!" she shouted. Poppy closed her eyes, ready to give up. She could feel the man's breath on her. _Oh my god._ She thought._ This is the end_. Her brain couldn't really think anything else. Poppy steeled herself for the pain, the end. Then, for some unknown reason, she decided to reach out for hope once more, and was about to scream and kick when the heavy weight was suddenly lifted off her. Everything was silent. Poppy opened her eyes and stared at the grey sky above her. For a moment she just appreciated living. The she sat up, turned, and gasped at what she saw.

Voe was standing a few feet away, the tip of his spear lodged into the heart of her attacker. Deena, Jen, and Quinn were standing over the now dead second wave of Adults. Voe saw Poppy, and the torturous look on his faced immediately changed to that of pure happiness.

As soon as Voe saw Poppy, he felt like living again. When he'd first arrived and saw Poppy under that _thing, _darkness swept over him, so did fear and anger. But now, everything would be okay. Because she was okay, the world would also be okay. Voe ran over to her, embracing her where she sat. The tightness in his stomach disappeared. Slowly, Poppy's arms went around him also.

"Was taking a nice little walk when I heard trouble." Voe said, trying to hide the fact his world had almost ended forty seconds ago.

"Just a walk, huh?" Poppy sobbed into his shoulder, gripping him tighter. Voe himself held back a sob himself. He whispered, as much to himself as to her.

"What do you mean he's gone?" Garret shouted. Once again, Um just shrugged and pointed to an open window. He left it open when Voe climbed out of it, because, 1) he enjoyed the breeze, and 2) he figured something like this might happen. "But why!" Garrett paced. He was pretty angry when he found Voe had gone abandoned his job. Um marched over to the window and bent out of it, grabbing a patch of flowers from the below the wall. He held them out to Garrett, who glared at him angrily.

"The hell? This really isn't the time, Um" Um shook the flowers. "Wait a second. Flowers… Poppy? He went after Poppy!" Um sighed with relief. Finally Garrett was getting it. He felt bad for letting Voe go, and not just because Garrett was angry at him for it. Voe was one of the only people who interacted with Voe. Voe was a friend. The group was later than they should have been, it was getting dark. Soon the streets would be filled with Adults.


	3. Chapter 3

**sorry sorry sorry i haven't uploaded in a while, but I've been really busy studying for finals (I'm a freshman in high school) but now it's summer so i have time to write more. Reviews are appreciated.**

Idrique stabbed the adult in the stomach and twisted the knife sideways. As in all his dreams, there was no blood. His mind was too young for that. The adults never even attacked him back, and looked more like the zombies in movies than the actual monsters roaming the streets of London. Idrique continued to hack away at the vegetable like man. He couldn't wait until he was older like his big brother, Atch. Idrique pictured life being like way back in the U.S., when Indians roamed around in tribes, getting new names when they became men. Idrique tried to come up with a new name for himself. Something like "Tough Rock" or "Macho would be cool.

The Adult in front of him nodded in approval at his names. Idrique thought about it some more when he was shaken from his dream and awoke into a cloudy stupor, unable to form a coherent thought. The only thing he registered was that he'd been tripped on; sleeping next to the door of the gallery he slept in with some other boys. Some of the older guys were talking in very serious tones, and by the light of the candle he saw worried looks on their faces. He could hear barely a word they said, as the boys, Atch and Newt, were talking very quietly. Newt leaned in close to Atch, who must have only been woken a few minutes ago.

"Well shit… Why'd he…prissy bastard…" Idrique was able to make out. Newt shushed him, glancing over in Idriques direction. Idrique squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to look like he was still asleep. It must have worked, because soon the back of his eyelids could sense no light. Waiting a few seconds, Idrique quietly climbed up and tiptoed from the gallery room. He followed the light that was retreating down the hall. It led him to the gallery used as an infirmary. That was when Idrique knew something bad had happened._ As usual, keeping the kids in the dark._ He thought._ But I'm not a little kid anymore! I'm strong!_

Newt and Atch went into the brightly lit infirmary. Idrique followed behind quietly, crouching behind the wall, listening intently.

Inside the infirmary, many of the older children were standing idly. They almost looked like grownups. Real ones, before the sickness, who could deal with difficult problems. Garrett paced back and forth. "Just tell me he'll be okay" he pleaded, turning to Beatrix, the unofficial nurse.

" Dear God Garrett, I don't know! Look at his injuries! They look bad yet he's still breathing!" Beatrix responded. She then squeaked out, "I'm just a kid."

"Yeah? Well so is he!" Roared Garret pointing at the man on the makeshift hospital bed, Voe. "And so were Lilly and Amy and George and Fred!" Garrett listen off their dead comrades. Beatrix started to tear up.

"Hey!" yelled Edgey, stepping in front of his scared little sister. "Leave her alone!" for once; he couldn't go along with Garret. Not when it came to Beatrix. "Calm down." He half-whispered. "You're scaring everyone, mate." He threw a glance at Poppy, sitting broken in a chair by Voe. Um sat next to her, with an odd look on his face. Um glanced down worriedly at her, then at Voe. Garrett turned to Poppy and walked over, then gently crouched down in front of her.

"Just tell me what happened one more time, Poppy." He looked into her eyes. She turned away.

"I already told you twice, and I really don't want to relive it." A hint of betrayal escaped into her voice. "Do you not believe me?" Garret sighed and was about to speak again when Deena stepped forward.

"The biggest group of Adults I've ever seen." Deena began. "The swarmed around us, coming from nowhere. It was so weird." Her eyes glassed over. Tears began to fall down her honey colored cheeks. "You know, it was like they were communicating. Like an army. They took us by surprise and grabbed Voe and Jen. They… they ripped Jens arm off!" Deena finished, collapsing into tears, mourning for her best friend. Quinn knelt beside her, holding back tears.

"And then some Adults started dragging Voe away and we fought them and ran away from them with Voe." Poppy finished.

"So…" said Atch. "The Adults are forming some kind of army? Communicating even? There is no way they are smart enough for that." He said nervously. This was big and everyone knew it.

Garrett finally spoke again. "Things are changing." He climbed up off the floor. "I guess we always knew they would." He sighed, running his fingers through his thick hair. "Guess you guys should all rest up. It's late."

"Are you saying we should just go to bed!" argued Edgey. Garrett walked toward the exit. "We've got to talk about this, Garrett!" Edgey ran after him. The other kids stood, stunned, before beginning to exit. Beatrix stood still, unsure what to do. Carlisle turned back to her grimly.

"I'm sure you can go to bed, Beatrix. I think someone else will be watching over Voe tonight," Garret said before leaving, nodding towards Poppy and Um. They were still side by side, not having moved a muscle. Beatrix shook her head, but left after a minute.

The infirmary was completely empty but for three people. Both Poppy and Um felt guilty. Poppy because she was useless in helping Voe, and if it weren't for her he never would have been there. Um just for letting Voe leave in the first place. Um looked Voe over. He had various scraped and bruises, a mysterious gash that didn't seem to be from a bite, and a large bump on his forehead. _Poppy never said how he got that gash, _Um thought. _She can at least tell the kid who doesn't speak. _He reached out for Poppy's hand at the same moment she reached out for his. He squeezed her hand and felt the sudden urge to hug her, to feel a connection with _someone _again.

He thought Poppy should definitely not be the one to feel guilty. Um was the one who let him go. He'd been Voe's sort-of-friend, and he'd just let him go anyway.

_Friends don't let friends die._

This feeling was associated with Buckingham Palace that damned place. It reminded him of that tragic night when he left David, the leader of the group there. He was an absolute madman. Um shook the memories away. The air in the gallery seemed to be nonexistent. Um left Poppy's side and swiftly walked to the entrance.

"Um?" Poppy called after him. "Are you okay?" she asked. Poppy must have just been expecting a nod, maybe just a look. But for some reason Um swiveled around and walked back to her with a determined look on his face.

He bent down and whispered into her ear in a shaky voice. "My names Benjamin." Then he was gone, leaving Poppy to stare after him.

In the galleries, children settled were sleeping. Friends slept in the same gallery, brother and sister curled up next to each other. Even Garret, in a Gallery he shared just with his little sister Clarice, was sleeping. Poppy lying in the infirmary beside Voe. Benjamin in a corner by himself, dreaming about tomorrow. Even the few children who were supposed to be on guard had drifted off. Every person in the building was asleep but one.

Carlisle stood at one of the windows of a completely unused room. He put the cigarette to his lips and smiled. Back in the old days he would have gotten in trouble. "Smoking's bad for you" or "Smoking will damage your lungs and kill you" they would say. It didn't matter anymore. Carlisle doubted he would live to see twenty anyway. There were much more dangerous things than smoking.

Carlisle held the unlit cigarette between his lips so his hand could abandon it. He fiddled with his gun, taking it apart piece by piece. His dad had been in the military and his mum in the police force. Both died in riots. Carlisle remembers his parents teaching him and his brothers how to use guns when they were little. His mum and dad always stressed what a cruel place the world was. Therefore Carlisle knew everything there was to know about fighting and weapons. At least, he thought he did. For all the skills he had though, Carlisle had always been a behind the scenes person though. His brother was always fighting on the front lines, throwing punches at everything in his way. Carlisle much preferred to plot and plan before doing anything risky. His older brother had gotten killed precisely because he didn't do that. Carlisle pulled the gun up and whirled around, aiming at a portrait behind him. He resisted the urge to shoot. Everyone would wake if they heard a gunshot, and see his sick and twisted side. Or worse; they would think he was crazy. A sickly sweet smile reached Carlisle's lips. He was not crazy. There was no way.


End file.
